Conor Ferguson, husband of the much-loved late RTÉ broadcaster Keelin Shanley, has opened up about his wife's posthumous memoir, explaining how she wanted "to leave a bit of herself behind".
The Six One News co-presenter and award-winning journalist had been writing a memoir called A Light That Never Goes Out before she passed away at the age of 51 earlier this year.
Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on Friday's Late Late Show, Ferguson revealed how his beloved wife wanted their two children - Lucy and Ben - to know "how she'd lived her life".
"What really drove her in writing the book was two purposes. The main purpose was that she wanted to leave behind a story for the kids," he said.
"She just wanted them to know her, and know what she'd done, and how she'd lived her life and looked at things, not necessarily as a guide book for how to live, but just to leave a bit of herself behind."
"Also, the book really functioned to help her remember who she was as a person herself because cancer can defeat the person, and make you feel like you are just a number or a patient who is working to somebody else's timetable.
"Of course, that isn't the case, you are still the same person," he said.
"The book allowed her to reconnect with herself and to go back and see the work that she'd done and review how she felt about things."
Ferguson explained how "it wasn't a natural skillset for her to be reflective" and revealed how the book, which was released on October 2, "had to drag that out of her," before adding "it was good for her, she really enjoyed that".
In the candid interview, he also fondly recalled a family boat trip on the Shannon and their first wedding dance.
A Light That Never Goes Out is out now.
